Lemma.

Let : z = mx + ny + p, be a plane,
and E = [a, a + x] [b, b + y]. Then the
parallelogram in the plane S above the
rectangle E in xy-plane has an area

m2 + n2 + 1 xy.
Proof.

The vertices of the rectangle R is

A(a, b), B(a + x, b), C(a, b + y) and D(a +

x, b + y). Correspondingly, we have 4
points P, Q, S, R on the plane , with the same x and y coordinates. Let
c = ma + nb + p. More precisely,
P(a, b, c), Q(a + x, b, c + mx), R(a, b + y, c + ny), and
S(a + x, b + y, c + mx + ny). It is easy to check that PQSR, is a

parallelogram on the plane , i.e. PQ = SR. Hence its area

=
 PQ PS sin
 QPS = PQ PS = the length of
 i
j
k 




 x 0 mx  = (m, n, 1)xy = m2 + n2 + 1 xy.


 0 y(I.T. Leong)
Math 200 in 2010
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Theorem. Let S be a surface given as the graph

of a function z = f (x, y) over the domain D in
xy-plane, with continuous partial derivatives.
Then
the area of the surface S is given by

1 + fx2 + fy2 dA.
D

Remark. In fact, we can first assume that D is a rectangle, and then subdivide
it into m n smaller rectangle Rij , with dimension x y as shown in the
figure on the right. Then we tries to approximate the curved surface of S
above Rij by means of the tangent plane of S at P(xij , yij ) with equation
fx (P)(x xij ) + fy (P)(y yij ) (z f (P)) = 0. One can use the lemma above
to write down the area of the portion of over Rij as

1 + fx (P)2 + fy (P)2 xy = 1 + fx (P)2 + fy (P)2 A. Then we write down

the Riemann sum ij 1 + fx (xij , yij )2 + fy (xij , yij )2 A, which should

converges to the double integral
1 + fx2 + fy2 dA.
D

(I.T. Leong)

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Example. The area of the portion D of the plane x + 3y + 2z = 6 in the first

octant is A. 3 11 B. 3 14 C. 6 14 D. 6 7 E. 6 11
Solution. The surface D has a graph description as x(y, z) = 6 3y 2z. As D
lies in the first quadrant, we have x 0, and hence 6 3y 2z 0 with
y, z 0. Then the yz-projection of S is given by
R = { (y, z) 0 y 2, 0 z

63y
2

}, which is a triangle with vertices

(y, z) = (0, 0), (2, 0), (0, 3). It follows that
63y
D = { (6 3y 2z, y, z) 0 y 2, 0 z 2 }.
Then xy = 3 and xz = 2. Hence we have surface area of

D=
1 dS =
1 + x2y + x2z dA =
1 + (3)2 + (2)2 dzdy =
D
R
R

1
14 Area of R = 14 2 3 = 3 14.
2

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Example. Find the area of the surface S which is part of the paraboloid
z = x2 + y2 that lies under the plane z = 9.
Solution. For any point P(x, y, z) in the surface S, we have x2 + y2 = z 9, i.e.
the point (x, y, 0) satisfies x2 + y2 32 , which means that the image of point P
after projecting onto xy-plane lies on the circular disc
D = { (x, y) x2 + y2 32 }. It follows that the paraboloid lies above the
circular disk D which can be described in terms of polar coordinates as
2
2
{ (r, ) 0 2, 0 r 3 }. Let
z =
f (x, y) = x + y , then fx = 2x and
1 + fx2 + fy2 dA =
fy = 2y. It follows that the area of S =

2 3 D

1 + 4x2 + 4y2 dA =
1 + 4r2 rdrd =
0
0
x2 +y2 32
[
]3

2 3
(1 + 4r2 )3/2

2
2
1 + 4r d(1 + 4r ) =
= (37 37 1).
8 0
4
3/2
6
0

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Example. Find the area of the upper hemisphere S : z =

a2 x2 y2 of

radius a.
Solution. For any point P(x, y, z) in the surface S, we have

0 z = a2 x2 y2 , i.e. x2 + y2 a2 , i.e. the point (x, y, 0) satisfies

x2 + y2 a2 , which means that the image of point P after projecting onto
xy-plane lies on the circular disc D = { (x, y) x2 + y2 a2 }. It follows that
the hemisphere lies above the circular disk D which can be described in terms
of polar coordinates as { (r, ) 0 2, 0 r a }. Let

a2 x2 y2 , then fx (x, y) = 2 x 2 2 = xz and

z = f (x, y) =

a x y

fy (x, y) =

y
a2 x2 y2

yz .

follows that the area of S =

a
0

So

D

dA =

+ fy2

= 1+

x2
z2

y2
z2

x2 +y2 +z2
z2

(I.T. Leong)

a2

x2

y2

a2
.
z2

It

1 + fx2 + fy2 dA

2 a

rdrd
r2 ]
a
a
(a2 r2 )1/2

d(a2 r2 ) = a
= 2a2 .
1/2
a2 r2
0

x2 +y2 a2

2
2

1 + fx2

a2

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Example. If S is the part of the paraboloid z = x2 + y2 with z 2, find the area

of surface S.
Solution. First note that the surface S can be realized as the graph of
z(x, y) = x2 + y2 , so one can project the curved surface S onto the xy-plane
2
2
and obtain a shadow
R = { (x, y) x +y 2 } in xy-plane. Then the surface
area element dS = 1 + z2x + z2y dA = 1 + 4(x2 + y2 )dxdy. So the surface

2 2
2
2
area of S =
1 dS =
1 + 4x + 4y dxdy =
r 1 + 4r2 drd
S
R
0 0
[
] 2
2
2 )1+1/2
2
(
1
+
4r

2
=
1 + 4r2 d(1 + 4r ) =
8 0
4
1 + 1/2
0

2
13
= (27 1) = .
4
3
3

(I.T. Leong)

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Let B = [a, b] [c, d] [r, s] be a rectangular solid, and f (x, y, z) be a continuous scalar function defined on B.
Divide B into l m n smaller rectangular solids. Label each small
rectangular solid by Cijk , where 1 i l, 1 j m and 1 k n. Inside
= (x , y , z ). Denote the volume of C by
each such Cijk , pick a point Pijk
ijk
ijk ijk ijk

V. Then we may form the Riemann sum:

)V.
f (Pijk

i=1 j=1 k =1

Definition. The triple integral of f over the rectangular box B is defined to

l
m
n

B f (x, y, z) dV = lim i=1 j=1 k=1 f (Pijk ) V.

l,m,n

Remark. The triple integral over non-rectangular region can be defined

similarly as that of double integral by summing up the smaller rectangles
inside the region in the Riemann sum, and then obtain the limit as triple
integral by using the Riemann sum.
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Example. Evaluate

x2 + z2 dV, where

E is the solid region bounded by the paraboloid

S : y = x2 + z2 and the plane : y = 4.
Solution. As the solid E is bounded by S and , we first determine the
intersection of these surfaces, take any intersection point P(x, y, z), so
x2 + z2 = y = 4, so the intersection is a circle C : { (x, 4, z) x2 + z2 = 22 } in
the plane . Instead of projecting C onto xy-plane as usual, we project it onto
xz-plane and denote its image by C , In the circular disc D bounded by the
circle C , we have x2 + y2 22 = 4, this means that the plane lies above the
paraboloid S over the D, Hence the solid E is bounded above by the plane

y = 4 and bounded below by the paraboloid y = x2 + z2 .
x2 + z2 dV
E
ymin (x,z)=4

=
x2 + z2 dy dAxz = (4 x2 z2 ) x2 + z2 dAxz =
D ymin (x,z)=x2 +z2
D
[ 3
]2
2 2
2

4r
r5
128
2
2
4
2
(4 r ) r rdrd = 2
4r r dr = 2

=
.
3
5
15
0
0
0
0
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Example. Find the volume of the region D that lies inside both the sphere
x2 + y2 + z2 = 4 and the cylinder x2 + y2 2x = 0.
Solution. The cylinder S is given by (x 1)2 + y2 = 1, so any point P(x, y, z)
inside S is given by (x 1)2 + y2 1. In terms of cylindrical coordinates, it can
be described by (r, , z) by r2 cos2 + r2 sin2 2r cos 0, i.e. r 2 cos , it
follows that the region can be described in terms of cylindrical coordinates as

{ (r, , z) 2 2 , and 4 r2 z 4 r2 }. It follows from the

definition of triple integral that the
of )
the region
( volume

D=
2

1 dV =

/2 2 cos
/2 0

(I.T. Leong)

/2 2 cos

/2 0

4 r2

rdrd = 2

4r2

4r2

/2
/2

dz r drd =

(4 r2 )3/2
3

Math 200 in 2010

]2 cos
d = .
0

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